A well known and widely used plug connector described in Japanese Patent Bulletin 55-3797 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,335), comprises a first and a second series of strip form contacts mounted to extend rearwardly, opposed in back-to-back relation along opposite faces of an insulating housing base from a leading edge thereof. The contacts are exposed above the base at front and rear ends which form connecting surfaces for contacts of a mating female connector and wire connecting portions for flat cable, respectively.
In view particularly of the inexorable trend to extreme miniaturization of electronic devices, it is of increasing importance that such plug connectors be of minimum size and weight.
However, conventionally, the contacts have been mounted on the base by forcible insertion therein e.g., stitching, into respective grooves or channels formed in the surface of the base. This requires the housing to be relatively robust and therefore relatively thick to withstand the insertion forces.
Furthermore, miniaturization requires that the contacts be located at very close pitch requiring still greater dimensional accuracy which is difficult to achieve by using the conventional contact insertion assembly step.